Rules for the Southern Rule Breaker

June 1, 2020
Southern women frequently are taught to follow the rules, from proper party etiquette to why sending fan mail is tacky. Smith, a journalist-turned-public relations specialist, regularly finds herself breaking one rule or another and recounts her experiences in this delightful essay collection. She is under no illusion about the mistakes she's made. Life is messy, she acknowledges in the foreword, and sometimes you can't play by the rules. Perhaps she was thinking of the time she met former First Lady Michelle Obama and called her by her first name. She might have been reflecting on the night she arrived in New York with a man she met in the Detroit airport and stayed the night with his family. One essay defends the right to be late to a funeral when it's for your daughter, a poignant tribute to her late sister. Smith writes of going her own way with humor and honesty, encouraging readers not to take themselves too seriously and find value in friends and family. Readers of essays from Sloane Crosley, Samantha Irby, or Bailey White will laugh out loud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)